1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to archery accessories. More particularly, though not exclusively, the present invention relates to an adjustable bow sight mechanism for use with a bow for shooting arrows.
2. Problems in the Art
Bow hunting has gained popularity in recent years. Today, several states sponsor bow hunting seasons for animals such as deer, elk, moose and bear.
Archery competitions are also becoming more popular. Archers are judged based upon the accuracy and precision of their shots.
Good archery skills are important to both bow hunters and competitive archers. The ability to consistently strike an intended target with an arrow is essential.
For hundreds of years archers shot arrows without any particular sighting mechanism. Rather the archer would learn by repetition and feel where to position his bow and arrow in order to hit his or her intended target or prey. This is often referred to as xe2x80x9cinstinctive shooting.xe2x80x9d
As an alternative to instinctive shooting, many archers today use some type of sighting mechanism. A typical bow sight usually includes a plurality of sighting pins that are used for alignment purposes. The sighting pins can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically. More than one pin is normally used in order for the archer to sight on targets at different distances. For example, the archer may set one pin for a 15 yard shot and another pin for a 25 yard shot. Varying the height of the pins will account for the projectile motion of the arrow, thus allowing the archer to improve his or her accuracy from various distances.
Although bow sights have helped archers and bow hunters improve the accuracy and precision with which they shoot, such sights still suffer from various deficiencies. Most significantly, the pins are difficult and cumbersome to adjust. Often times the sights require the use of Allen wrenches or other tools that are not easy to use in the field and require a great finger dexterity to use. Still further, adjusting the individual pins in this manner can often result in over-adjustment, as fine adjustments in the location of the pins are difficult to achieve.
Not surprisingly, others have sought to improve upon bow sights and mechanisms for adjusting the same. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,579,839 and 4,457,076 generally disclose the use of screw devices or thumb screws that are rotated to adjust a sighting pin in either the horizontal or vertical direction. A plunger or spring-loaded ball is disposed in a surface adjacent the head of the screw such that it projects into a detent on the screw. It is intended that use of such detent mechanisms would avoid the necessity of a separate locking mechanism on the device. Such adjustment devices also suffer from various problems. For instance, there is too much xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cgivexe2x80x9d in the adjustment mechanism such that it overshadows any adjustments to the pins that are made by rotating the thumb screws. A separate locking mechanism is therefore still required to eliminate this inadvertent movement of the bow sight adjustment mechanism.
Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a bow sight adjustment mechanism that can be used without tools and the like and that does not require a separate locking mechanism.
A still further feature of the present invention is the provision a bow sight adjustment mechanism that eliminates inadvertent movement of the bow sight without the need for a separate locking mechanism.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a bow sight adjustment mechanism that is economical to manufacture and durable in use.
These and other features become apparent from the following description of the invention.
The present invention relates to an improved bow sight adjustment mechanism having a slide lock, a slide stop and a slide mounted between the slide stop and the slide lock on an elongated screw device. The improvement includes the addition of one or more dowel pins or similar rigid member extending between the slide lock and the slide stop. The slide, which moves about the length of the thumb screw in response to a rotation of the screw, also includes an aperture that allows the dowel pin to pass through the slide with a flexible bushing positioned between the dowel pin and the slide. The flexible bushing, preferably made of nylon, effectively absorbs any looseness or xe2x80x9cslopxe2x80x9d between the dowel pin and the slide, thereby minimizing inadvertent movement of the adjustment mechanism.
The present invention also includes a new method for sighting a bow having a sighting element with a plurality of pins. The method generally includes providing a bow, providing an adjustable bow sight mechanism as described previously, attaching the bow sight adjustment mechanism to a bow, adjusting the plurality of pins individually to achieve a desired spacing of shots for different distances, and then adjusting the sighting element by rotating the screw devices that cause adjustment in the horizontal and vertical directions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that once the archer determines the appropriate spacing for the pins for various distance intervals, the adjustment mechanism can be used to fine tune or more precisely adjust all of the pins at the same time. Of course, the bow sight adjustment mechanism also avoids the use of Allen wrenches and similar tools, as well as the need for a separate locking mechanism on the device.